Member

Without wishing to pre-empt the noble Baroness, Lady Owen, I note that she has tabled Amendment 5, which aims to remove the reasonable excuse defence from the government amendments. I was clear during last week’s debate that we felt it necessary to include this defence in our amendments. Indeed, the noble Baroness’s amendment on Report included the same defence. It is the Government’s view that this defence is necessary to ensure that the deepfake offence is a proportionate response to the threats posed by intimate image deepfakes. Were Amendment 5 to be inserted into the Bill, the Government’s view is that the provision would more likely than not be incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights.